Sachi Saheli’s initiative to normalise periods

Menstrual Health & Awareness Day celebration was held to bring awareness about the otherwise stigmatised topic of menstruation so that the notion of this natural process is normalised

The ‘Menstrual Health and Awareness Day’ on February 5 was celebrated with great enthusiasm in schools and colleges. Launched by Delhi based nonprofit organisation called Sachi Saheli, this day was celebrated by several government and non-government institutions across the country as ‘Happy Periods Day’.

The motive of celebrating this day is to bring awareness about the otherwise stigmatized topic of menstruation to everyone so that the notion of this natural process is normalised. The day is also uniquely placed in the calendar – 5th is symbolic of 5 days of bleeding and 28 days in the month February symbolises the number of days in an average menstrual cycle.

Countless children, men, women, students, teachers from all over the country became a part of this grand campaign and celebration as they created unique ‘Happy Period Day themed greeting cards, posters to exchange them with each other. Additionally, people from all walks of life participated in the social media movement for Happy Periods Day. The movement called the ‘Red Spot Campaign saw participation from hundreds as they clicked photos with a red spot on their hands and posted them with a personal period story/solidarity statement on various social media platforms under the hashtags #Happyperiodsday and #Pushthestigmaaway.

The otherwise stigmatised process of menstruation was celebrated with a festive-spirit on such a large-scale for the first time in India.

Besides Delhi, the day was also celebrated as Happy Periods Day in Maharashtra, Dadar Nagar Haveli, Daman and Diu Kerala, Uttarakhand, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan, Assam among others.

A large-scale event was also organised at ASN Public School in New Delhi, in which more than ten schools participated. Prominent among them Bal Bhavan Public School Mayur Vihar, Greenfield Public School Dilshad Garden, Gyan Sarovar Children School, Evergreen Public School Vasundhara, Mother Mary School Mayur Vihar, besides models in Haryana State. In this program, Dr Surbhi Singh, Rachna Sudheen and Shahnaz Bano from Sachhi Saheli and Sushma Kalia and Madhavi Maam participated on behalf of the school. A total of 5 Government and Public schools in Hisar Haryana also celebrated the day with immense joy and gaiety.

Apart from this, students from Colleges such as Hansraj College, Ramanujan College DU, Lady Shri Ram College, IIITD, Dayal Singh College, Indraprastha University, Deshbandhu College took to social media to participate in the Red Spot Campaign.

Several NGOS/ Brands such as My Pad Bank, Apna Green, Haiyya, Ecofemme, Unipads, Tata Trusts Vatsalya, Gramalaya, Parmarth Niketan, Go Girl Foundation, etc., also celebrated the day with great vigour as they conducted awareness activities with their beneficiaries in their respective states and cities.